Blink Secures $30m Funding to Launch Europe's First Air Taxi

LONDON -- Blink, Europe's first air taxi service, announced today that it will commence operations in May 2008, having successfully completed a $30 million round of equity funding with European investors and placed a 30 aircraft order for the Cessna Citation Mustang earlier this year.

Blink's $30 million equity funding makes it one of the most well funded air-taxi operators globally. The investment size ensures that Blink is sufficiently funded to rapidly grow to be the efficient choice for short-haul business travel and fundamentally change business travel in Europe.

Blink will offer the efficiency and convenience of private air travel at a price which is competitive with commercial business class fares. Travellers will arrive at one of Blink's convenient London hubs ten minutes before their flight departs, board the aircraft immediately, and take-off without delay.

Blink will use the next generation Cessna Citation Mustang jet aircraft, a light and fuel efficient business jet that seats up to four passengers and can land and take-off from over 800 airports in Europe - many more than conventional commercial jets. Blink's service will allow passengers to travel direct to secondary cities and other locations not currently serviced by scheduled flights.

In May 2008, businesses, for the first time, will be able to achieve the significant productivity gains of a personalised travel experience saving them, their employees and clients significant and unnecessary costs.

Blink has partnered with TAG Aviation (UK) Ltd, Europe's largest charter operator. TAG will operate Blink's aircraft ensuring the highest levels of safety, reliability, and service. The AOC partnership demonstrates the strength of Blink's business model and provides Blink with significant operational expertise.

Businesses in Europe will be able to arrange a Blink flight as easily as ordering a cab to take their executives to the over 800 airports in the Blink destination network.

Blink is the brainchild of Harvard Business School graduates Peter Leiman and Cameron Ogden, who have developed an innovative business plan that takes the operational efficiencies of low cost airlines and applies it to personalised business travel. Blink aircraft will spend more time in the air moving passengers than traditional private jets and operate within a network of destinations. As a result, Blink can offer its service at a dramatically lower cost to private jets and at a competitive price to commercial business class travel.

For business travellers, the service saves time and money while boosting productivity. Blink will prove invaluable for all levels of executive management from mid-level to senior executives visiting two or three sites in secondary locations in one day, sales teams which need to visit multiple clients, engineers to travel between factories and customers, or an investment team on a roadshow with a tightly packed schedule.

Blink was advised by Heller Ehrman (Europe) LLP.

Leiman comments: "Our funding is a key source of differentiation not only within the air-taxi segment but within the aviation industry as a whole. We are building a business with a view to the future. The $30 million equity funding ensures that we have sufficient funding to grow and support our pan-European network. It differentiates us from other operators and provides a tremendous launch pad from which to start."

Ogden adds: "We are confident in Blink we have the right business at the right time. Increasingly businesses have pan-European operations that require their executives to move frequently from location to location. We have created a tool that will do that quicker and more efficiently than any other. In addition Blink will take advantage of the rapid predicted growth in European business air travel."

For more information go to http://www.flyblink.co.uk.